Apparatus and method for isolating and/or eliminating at least one solute from a solution

ABSTRACT

This relates to an apparatus and method for removing solutes from a solution using nano-filtration to provide a treated wine.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/284,909, filed on 23 Nov. 2005, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/257,676, filed on 15 Oct. 2002, which is a §371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/IB01/00383, filed on 15 Mar. 2001, claiming the priority of South African Patent Application No. 2000/1900 filed on 14 Apr. 2000, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the isolation and/or elimination of solutes from a solution, more particularly from beverages.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

It is well-known in the art that during the course of the production of certain beverages, compounds are produced which detract from the flavour and quality of the beverage. This is a particular problem associated with the production of alcoholic beverages where compounds such as ethyl acetate, acetic acid, and acetaldehyde are detrimental to the flavour and aroma of the alcoholic beverage.

It is also known in the art that such undesirable compounds may be removed from solution by means of reverse osmosis. This process of reverse osmosis requires elevated pressures to achieve its effect, resulting in an increase in temperature. It is commonly known that certain volatile components in solution are adversely affected by an increase in temperature that leads to associated unfavourable development of derivatives of integral solutes in solution, or even more unfavourably the generation of contaminating compounds in solution. Reverse osmosis also only removes up to 15% of the volatile acidity from the wine in a single pass. If higher levels are to be removed using the reverse osmosis process, the wine has to then be passed 2-3 times which can lead to a further deterioration in the whole quality of the wine as well as excessive increases in temperature. To limit, insofar as possible, the effects of the reverse osmosis on the quality of the treated solution heat exchangers are utilised, which is costly and cumbersome.

Ultra-filtration is also known to remove unwanted compounds from a solution. However, this requires low pressure with concomitant detrimental effects to the solution insofar as desirable compounds also pass through into the permeate.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus, which, at least partially, alleviates the above-mentioned problems.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a method, which, at least partially, alleviates some of the above-mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention there is provided an apparatus for removing at least one solute from a solution comprising a receptacle for a solution; a nano-filtration means in fluid communication with the receptacle; a means for driving the solution through the nano-filtration means to produce a retentate at a retentate outlet and a raw permeate at a raw permeate outlet; a separation means having an inlet which is in fluid communication with the raw permeate outlet of the nano-filtration means and a treated permeate effluent outlet which is in fluid communication with the retentate outlet which, in use, combines the retentate egressing from the retentate outlet with the treated permeate egressing from the treated permeate effluent outlet to provide a treated solution.

In accordance with this embodiment of the invention the separation means is preferably a treatment column, the column being an ion exchange column, alternatively a hydrophobic interaction column, further alternatively an affinity column, still further alternatively a gel filtration or gel exclusion column.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention there is an apparatus for removing at least one solute from an untreated alcoholic beverage comprising a receptacle for the untreated alcoholic beverage; a nano-filtration means in fluid communication with the receptacle; a means for driving the untreated alcoholic beverage through the nano-filtration unit to produce a retentate at a retentate outlet and a raw permeate at a raw permeate outlet; an anion exchange column having an inlet which is in fluid communication with the raw permeate outlet of the nano-filtration unit and a treated permeate effluent outlet which is in fluid communication with the retentate outlet which, in use, combines the retentate egressing from the retentate outlet with the treated permeate egressing from the treated permeate effluent outlet to provide a treated untreated alcoholic beverage.

Furthermore, in accordance with the invention there is provided a method for treatment of a solution to remove at least one solute from a solution, including the steps of subjecting the solution to a process of nano-filtration for producing a retentate and a raw permeate, with the raw permeate containing the solute; treating the raw permeate for removing at least a portion of the solute to provide a treated permeate; and combining the retentate and the treated permeate to provide a treated solution, preferably the treatment of the raw permeate occurs under high pH conditions on an anion exchange column.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention is described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing where:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of apparatus for isolating and/or eliminating a solute from a solution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the drawing an apparatus (1) for removing a compound (not shown) of interest from an untreated alcoholic beverage (12) is illustrated. The apparatus (1) has a receptacle (10) which receives the untreated alcoholic beverage (12), a nano-filtration unit (14) which is in fluid communication with the receptacle (10) and a pump (16) to drive the untreated alcoholic beverage (12) through the nano-filtration unit (14) to produce a retentate (not shown) at a retentate outlet (18) and a raw permeate (not shown) at a raw permeate outlet (20) and a anion exchange column (22) having an inlet (24) which is in fluid communication with the raw permeate outlet (20) of the nano-filtration unit (14) and a treated permeate effluent outlet (26) which is in fluid communication with the retentate outlet (18) which, when the apparatus (1) is in use, combines the retentate (not shown) egressing from the retentate outlet (18) with the treated permeate (not shown) egressing from the treated permeate effluent outlet (26) to provide a treated alcoholic beverage (not shown).

One embodiment of the method for treatment of an untreated alcoholic beverage (12) to remove at least one compound (not shown) from the untreated alcoholic beverage (12) includes the steps of subjecting the untreated alcoholic beverage (12) to a process of nano-filtration through the nano-filtration unit (14) to produce a retentate (not shown) and a raw permeate (not shown), with the raw permeate (not shown) containing the compound to be removed from the raw permeate (not shown) followed by treating the raw permeate (not shown) by passage through an anion exchange column under high pH conditions (22) thereby removing at least a portion of the compound (not shown) to provide a treated permeate (not shown); and combining the retentate (not shown) and the treated permeate (not shown) to provide a treated alcoholic beverage.

It will be appreciated that numerous variations, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, can be made to the above-mentioned embodiment of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. In particular the means for driving the untreated solution through the nano-filtration unit may be gravity-based. 

1. An apparatus for removing at least one solute from wine comprising: a receptacle containing the wine; a nano-filtration unit in fluid communication with the receptacle; a means for driving the wine through the nano-filtration unit to produce a retentate at a retentate outlet and a raw permeate at a raw permeate outlet, wherein the raw permeate contains the at least one solute; a separation unit for absorbing at least a portion of the at least one solute from the raw permeate, the separation unit having an inlet in fluid communication with the raw permeate outlet of the nano-filtration unit and a treated permeate effluent outlet which is in fluid communication with the retentate outlet for combining the retentate egressing from the retentate outlet with the treated permeate egressing from the treated permeate effluent outlet to provide a treated wine as an alcoholic beverage.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the separation unit is a treatment column.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the treatment column is an ion exchange column.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the treatment column is a hydrophobic interaction column.
 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the treatment column is an affinity column.
 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the treatment column is a gel filtration-column or gel exclusion column.
 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for driving the untreated solution through the nano-filtration unit is gravity based.
 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for driving the untreated wine comprises a pump.
 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the treatment unit is selected from at least one member of the group consisting of an ion exchange column, a hydrophobic interaction column, an affinity column, a gel filtration-column, and a gel exclusion column.
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the treatment column is selected from at least one member of the group consisting of an ion exchange column, a hydrophobic interaction column, an affinity column, a gel filtration-column, and a gel exclusion column.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is arranged for single pass nanofiltration.
 12. A method for treatment of wine to remove at least one solute from wine, including the steps of: subjecting the wine to a process of nano-filtration for producing a retentate and a raw permeate, with the raw permeate containing the at least one said solute; treating the raw permeate for removing at least a portion of the at least one said solute by a treatment column to provide a treated permeate; and combining the retentate and the treated permeate to provide a treated wine as an alcoholic beverage.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is selected from at least one member of the group consisting of an ion exchange column, a hydrophobic interaction column, an affinity column, a gel filtration-column, and a gel exclusion column.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is selected from at least one member of the group consisting of a hydrophobic interaction column and an affinity column.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the combining of the retentate and the treated permeate to provide a treated wine as an alcoholic beverage occurs as a single nanofiltration step.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is an ion exchange column.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is a hydrophobic interaction column.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is an affinity column.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment column is a gel filtration-column or gel exclusion column. 